Whisky and Wings: Your New Favorite Pairing (Video)

If you mention the words “food and drink pairing” to someone, chances are, wine and cheese are going to come to mind. Maybe wine and chocolate, or maybe beer and fried food. Maybe you’re a frequent reader, and you’re even thinking about nontraditional sake and food pairings. We’d put a dram of whisky on the line, though, that most people will not automatically go to pairing whisky and food (and if they do, they’re our people and we’ll gladly share a dram with them anyway).

The thing is, whisky (or whiskey) goes great with a variety of food. The characteristic grain bills and barrels, when paired by someone who has spent time with the liquid and the foods involved, can be a wonderful experience. Life changing, even (who’d want to go back to not pairing whisky and food together?). Sure, if it’s done wrong, it might not taste great, but at least there is still whisky and food involved.

That’s why we’re here, though: to learn how to pair whisky and food together. And not just any food. Wings. Whether you like ’em hot and spicy or sweet and succulent, wings make a perfect complement to whisky. That’s why we worked with The Balvenie Scotch whisky brand ambassador Gemma Patterson to pair some of our favorite expressions with some delicious wing flavors.

For these pairings, we thought about how the different whiskies would both compare and contrast to the different wings. Did we want heat and sweet to play off of each other? What about the tropical notes that you can find in the rum cask-finished expression? Where does peat fit into everything?

To find out the answers — and to learn how you can amaze your friends with the best new way to serve whisky and wings (both things that are great for sharing) — check out the pairings below and see just how well the flavors go together in the video above!